They have been working on it since February - oh yes they have. A local dance and theatre group is now almost ready for curtain up on a wonderful show at Writhington School - and everyone is invited.

Less than one month to go when they hit the boards and we wanted to find out a little more about the team behind Sleeping Beauty and why they have not had much of it - sleep that is.

The Footlights company said they are thrilled to use the lovely local theatre.

They told us : " It's the perfect venue for us and we are extremely grateful and excited to be able to bring our production to it. Hopefully we can bring some of our audiences to it and we hope that the local community will support us in coming to watch. It will be great to get a new audience from the local areas around Radstock. 

"Pantomime is extremely important to us and always has been. It's especially important in the current times as it brings light- hearted relief and a chance to be transported to a land of make believe with lots of opportunities to laugh and be enthralled by the dazzling costumes and toe-tapping dance routines. "

The Footlights run weekly dance classes throughout the year on a Monday evening each week, teaching tap and jazz dance.

Planning for the pantomime began in February when the company chose the music and wrote the song lyrics, then they started to audition the older dancers who have speaking roles. 

In June/July they start designing costumes and begin the search for fabric to make them. 

There's over 300 costumes all made by hand made harder this year because this show has not one, but two delightful Dames, who both have around seven outrageous costumes each!

The Footlights team said: " We begin cutting out and making the costumes from August onwards. We usually don't finish making them until the week before the show. It takes a lot of time and effort but it's definitely worth it in the end. We run The Footlights completely voluntarily purely to give children & young people the opportunity to perform on stage, doing what they love. "

In June/July & August the group is busy choreographing all the dances and writing the script and then last month they began pantomime rehearsals with the cast rehearsing three times a week.

They said: " We spend lots of time working on their performance and projecting their voice. The pantomime is a great opportunity to develop their confidence whilst learning a skill at the same time. It's a great opportunity to learn all about what it takes to perform in a theatrical production. 

"Caroline's husband (Paul Wilkinson) builds all of our scenery from scratch. We design the set and then get Paul to work his magic and create it for us. This all takes place at our house. We currently have around 200 costumes hanging on rails around our house, and our garage is full of scenery, ready to be transported to the theatre !"

Finally although Sleeping Beauty is a well-loved and well-known pantomime it will be performed with a local twist.

The pantomime is set in the Kingdom of Writhlington and Sleeping Beauty lives in The Dragonfly Castle. There are plenty of references throughout the show to local towns and villages.

All of our cast are extremely excited to perform in such a lovely venue. It will be a great opportunity for us all and we hope the local community will enjoy our pantomime. There is something in it for everyone, no matter what age.